Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Tolerance is a virtue, generally speaking. Tolerance of hatred, oppression and intolerance is not.
That is why it is important for civilized society to affirm religious freedom on the one hand and condemn religious zealotry on the other. Especially when that zealotry is expressed in " Jihadist" like terms.
There can be no room for the suppression of young Pakistani girls like......, who sought only to become educated. Barbaric beheadings belong to a long bygone era, and whether the challenge is ISIS or Islamic extremism generally, such insanity must be condemned and supressed itself.
We need also to remember that , In the immortal words of Martina McBride, " Love's the only house big enough to hold all the pain in the world". Ghandi knew that. Hitler did not. Consider the difference in their legacies. One left a country finally independent of colonial rule, and building for the future, while the other left millions dead and a continent in shambles.
That is what happens when hate triumphs over love. So it is important to be resolute in resisting hatred, and to listen to the better angels of our nature. Standing up to intolerance which is based on negativity is the only way the human spirit will endure and potentially triumph.
Despair in the face of intolerance is not the answer. Love is, however, and when we can summon from within the strength to love our enemies, without tolerating their extremes, we will have advanced the cause of human civilization in an enormous way. Keeping our heart lights on in the face of the daunting darkness that surrounds is is a noble goal. Jesus Christ was no dummy.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Giants are generally larger than life. They walk among the clouds and leave huge footprints in their wake. That's why they are called Giants. By any objective standard, we can count Mario Cuomo of New York as one of them. He was a giant. A true political giant , and the premiere political polemicist of our time. His rhetoric could set our hearts throbbing and our spirits soaring . He was unparalleled in the pursuit of political piety and profundity, and he could simultaneously appeal to our collective conscience and urge us on to nobler goals . He was an eloquent orator who appealed constantly to the higher angels of our nature, and he set a very high bar for ethical probity in governance . Mario Cuomo was a superb example of all that is best in our political system, and a man of deep and true conviction who could compromise when need be on matters of governance, but never compromise the fundamental principles on whichhe built his successful legal and governmental career. I first met Mario Cuomo in 1974 in Niagara Falls, at the Democratic State convention, where he was campaigning for Lt. Governor.We spoke in his small hospitality suite for about 20 minutes, and I was duly impressed. He was trying to parlay his success at mediating an ethnic housing dispute in Queens into the pursuit of higher office. He won the nomination to be Hugh Carey's running mate. He lost the primary to Upstate State Senator Mary Ann Krupsak , but became Gov. Carey's Secretary of State, and used that position to travel the state and build support, and four years later, became Hugh Carey's running mate for a second term. In 1982, I supported his run for Governor in the primary against NYC Mayor Ed Koch, and held a fund raiser for him at our large home in Oswego. I can still picture him speaking from the staircase to over 100 enthusiastic supporters. He went on to win the primary and the election, and two more elections after that. He even recorded a commercial for me when I ran for Mayor of Oswego. Our paths would cross many times over the years, and I always had the utmost respect for him. The last lengthy conversation I had with him was several years ago, over the need for a constitutional convention for NYS, a move he enthusiastically supported. He also talked at length and with great pride about his sons Andrew and Christopher, and their accomplishments. He was as proud a father as he was a Governor. He would invariably end most of his speeches with the NYS motto, one word, Excelsior ! Onward and upward. That word is a fitting. epitaph for his life and many achievements. Excelsior, Mario M. Cuomo. Excelsior!